*frustrated*... what shotgun????

Maverick 88. A great alternative for me because:
1. inexpensive
2. good reviews on it.

I want to hunt deer down the road, and I know some long guns are designed for hunting and others for home defense. I've learned a shorter barrel is better for home defense.

So here are my questions once and for all.

1. the Maverick 88 home security models: These guns are strictly for defending one's home right? these really wouldn't be suitable out for hunting? And, I have seen that Maverick 88 and Mossbergs and Remingtons can all be "modded" into "SHTF guns."

If I went with this Remington Deer Express, it'd serve me when I finally begin deer hunting later on, but what I dislike is that it holds fewer rounds than the Maverick 88 security models. And it's roughly $150 more expensive than the Maverick 88 security models.

And, I assume this Remington can be modded as well? Sorry for all the questions, but as you can see I am new at all this despite my efforts to read up and learn.

Not to add to your confusion as the Moss 500 is a very popular option for HD shotgun...

I would suggest looking locally, or at CDNNInvestments for a Rem 870. There is an express 3" mag going for $270. The 870 has more aftermarket support than you can shake a stick at. You can buy extended mag tubes and all sorts of furniture. You may be able to find the same gun in your local gs for a comparable price, but $270 + transfer aint too chabby..

Good luck

BTW - page 46 in the cdnninvestments catalog has the deal I just mentioned. You can download the pdf at their site.

ETA: Mas Ayoob did a nice writeup on 20ga v 12 ga for personal defense. 20ga will produce a simlar wound with less recoil. In some respects, the 20ga can be more versatile. Also, if you're talking SHTF - you may want to get multiple guns, a few for each purpose. Dont overlook .22 either.

Lots of good choices,,
I would suggest picking one and getting an extra barrel for it. One for hunting and one for Home Defense.
Most models are easily changed out, and some offer this as a package deal.

And me,,I like Ithaca 37. But I'm an odd ball.

Liberty is lost through complacency and a subservient mindset. When we accept or even welcome automobile checkpoints, random searches, mandatory identification cards, and paramilitary police in our streets, we have lost a vital part of our American heritage. America was born of protest, revolution, and mistrust of government. Subservient societies neither maintain nor deserve freedom for long.
Ron Paul 2004

I recently aquired the Maverick 88 12 gauge "home security" version (18.5" barrel) and I can say without a doubt it works great for shooting clay pigeons, so I'd have to think it would do well for hunting also.

Be careful when you pry my gun from my cold dead hands, the barrel will be hot.

Not to add to your confusion as the Moss 500 is a very popular option for HD shotgun...

I would suggest looking locally, or at CDNNInvestments for a Rem 870. There is an express 3" mag going for $270. The 870 has more aftermarket support than you can shake a stick at. You can buy extended mag tubes and all sorts of furniture. You may be able to find the same gun in your local gs for a comparable price, but $270 + transfer aint too chabby..

Good luck

BTW - page 46 in the cdnninvestments catalog has the deal I just mentioned. You can download the pdf at their site.

ETA: Mas Ayoob did a nice writeup on 20ga v 12 ga for personal defense. 20ga will produce a simlar wound with less recoil. In some respects, the 20ga can be more versatile. Also, if you're talking SHTF - you may want to get multiple guns, a few for each purpose. Dont overlook .22 either.

The 870 is an excellent design from several standpoints, reliability being one of its truly golden qualities. Pcosmar cited the 37 Ithaca, which is one of my favorite shotguns. My all-time favorite is the 97 Winchester trench gun, but these are not for the faint of heart or ill-trained as they have one or two serious design flaws that allow them to go off when one would not expect them to, so do not get one as your HD gun. Besides, they are now seriously costly.

Twenty ga. is an excellent HD round and with a rifled barrel a good 20 ga, will hold 2" at 100 yards. Getting hit with a 20ga slug is very bad... effectively as bad as a 12 ga. Guns are smaller, lighter, less recoil as noted, making them good for women especially for whom a 12 ga. may be a little too much.

For HD I would recommend cylinder bore which will spread the shot a bit more than a choked gun, but only marginally so at the sorts of ranges where this sort of shooting mainly occurs. I still think it is a good idea particularly if you are not going to train regularly because when the adrenaline is spiking and you are would up very tightly I feel one probably can use all the help he can get. Even well trained shooters can have a hard time when called on to shoot another human being. Those who do not... well, I think those are the ones you need to look out for.

Howdy.
that Maverick model in the 20 gauge would make a good home defense gun.
but you said you also want to use it to hunt Deer then id suggest getting the 12 gauge.
i own several shotguns from different manufacturers but where i live we use Rifles to hunt Deer with and shotguns we use for Bird season.
but my Mossberg 500 in 12 gauge i have for home defense.
the thing about the Maverick and Mossberg you can also buy change out Barrels in different lengths for hunting and home defense if your just going to use one gun.
Semper Fi.
Jim.

ETA: Mas Ayoob did a nice writeup on 20ga v 12 ga for personal defense. 20ga will produce a simlar wound with less recoil. In some respects, the 20ga can be more versatile. Also, if you're talking SHTF - you may want to get multiple guns, a few for each purpose. Dont overlook .22 either.

"They sell us the president the same way they sell us our clothes and our cars. They sell us every thing from youth to religion the same time they sell us our wars. I want to know who the men in the shadows are. I want to hear somebody asking them why. They can be counted on to tell us who our enemies are but theyre never the ones to fight or to die." - Jackson Browne Lives In The Balance

As others have suggested, the 870 is good, reliable and cost-effective. It's a good turkey gun and you certainly use it with slugs for deer.

"Your mother's dead, before long I'll be dead, and you...and your brother and your sister and all of her children, all of us dead, all of us..rotting in the ground. It's the family name that lives on. It's all that lives on. Not your personal glory, not your honor, but family." - Tywin Lannister

It was cheap and sharp looking.
I've put probably one box of shells through it, and didn't have a single issue. I've heard that over time, the smaller parts in it will begin to disintegrate quicker than the normal shotgun. That's partly why it's so cheap.
However, as long as you are not putting hundreds of rounds through every month, you should be okay.

If you want something for home defense, get a 20 gauge and saw off the end, OR, get a pistol grip (those things can kill your wrist, but if it's for home defense, you won't be shooting it too much-hopefully).

I have both the Mossberg 500 and the Remington 870 in 12GA. They are both awesome guns. My preference is the Remington 870, perhaps because it is the gun I grew up with besides the Ruger 10/22. Those are two guns that I will never get rid of.

Rand Benedict Paul.
Not only did he sell us out, this douche bag did it to his own father! I'm more upset him selling his father out. I don't care who i think is going to win i would never sell my father out. If his willing to sell his father out what else is for sale?

Check out the Benelli Nova 12ga pump, or the Benelli Supernova if you prefer the pistol grip.
I always thought I had to choose between a Mossberg 5XX or Remington 870, but then I saw the Nova on sale at the local gun shop.
I got mine for $343.00 plus state taxes, comes standard with "ghost ring" sights and is chambered for everything up to 3.5" shells.

If you got a gun with interchangeable (long) barrels, is there anything preventing a body from buying an extra barrel and cutting a few inches off the end to better match the length of a home security model?

"Sorry, guys, the rebellion is off. We couldn't get a rebellion permit.""What is this, a home owner's association? Why the need to try and control other people's behavior?"

If you got a gun with interchangeable (long) barrels, is there anything preventing a body from buying an extra barrel and cutting a few inches off the end to better match the length of a home security model?

As long as the cut off barrel is of legal length. (18 inches, I believe)

Liberty is lost through complacency and a subservient mindset. When we accept or even welcome automobile checkpoints, random searches, mandatory identification cards, and paramilitary police in our streets, we have lost a vital part of our American heritage. America was born of protest, revolution, and mistrust of government. Subservient societies neither maintain nor deserve freedom for long.
Ron Paul 2004

They use to make the 500 with a field/security barrel combo, would probably be a great deal(if still available) for a multipurpose shotgun. Check out my new HD toy I picked up the other day:
The Mossberg 500 ZMB..lol...it has something to do with Zombies or something, not really something I'm in to but besides not having a heatshield and a bayonet lug it's pretty much the same as the Mossberg 590 but a hell of alot cheaper.

As for deer hunting with the ZMB, I wouldn't. I prefer rifles for deer hunting but I suppose that 20 inch barrel wouldn't be too bad if you did some up close stalk hunting.

Also, don't buy a Maverick 88! If you can afford it, you can afford the base field model 500 from Walmart. Last I checked they were like $209.

Click herefor a free copper round. Every three people you get signed up, you get another free round! NO PURCHASE NECESSARY!

They use to make the 500 with a field/security barrel combo, would probably be a great deal(if still available) for a multipurpose shotgun. Check out my new HD toy I picked up the other day:
The Mossberg 500 ZMB..lol...it has something to do with Zombies or something, not really something I'm in to but besides not having a heatshield and a bayonet lug it's pretty much the same as the Mossberg 590 but a hell of alot cheaper.

As for deer hunting with the ZMB, I wouldn't. I prefer rifles for deer hunting but I suppose that 20 inch barrel wouldn't be too bad if you did some up close stalk hunting.

Also, don't buy a Maverick 88! If you can afford it, you can afford the base field model 500 from Walmart. Last I checked they were like $209.

That would be even better!

Here in Ohio, can't use rifle for deer hunting, for some reason.

"Sorry, guys, the rebellion is off. We couldn't get a rebellion permit.""What is this, a home owner's association? Why the need to try and control other people's behavior?"

They use to make the 500 with a field/security barrel combo, would probably be a great deal(if still available) for a multipurpose shotgun. Check out my new HD toy I picked up the other day:
The Mossberg 500 ZMB..lol...it has something to do with Zombies or something, not really something I'm in to but besides not having a heatshield and a bayonet lug it's pretty much the same as the Mossberg 590 but a hell of alot cheaper.

As for deer hunting with the ZMB, I wouldn't. I prefer rifles for deer hunting but I suppose that 20 inch barrel wouldn't be too bad if you did some up close stalk hunting.

Also, don't buy a Maverick 88! If you can afford it, you can afford the base field model 500 from Walmart. Last I checked they were like $209.

Just curious why not a Maverick 88? I've had mine for a couple of months now and it's been working out pretty good...

Be careful when you pry my gun from my cold dead hands, the barrel will be hot.